Check out all of our 2009 NFL team previews.
Offseason Additions: Terrell Owens (WR); Dominic Rhodes (RB); Drayton Florence (CB); Ryan Fitzpatrick (QB); Geoff Hangartner (C).
Offseason Losses: Jason Peters (OT); Derrick Dockery (G); Angelo Crowell (LB); Jabari Greer (CB); Melvin Fowler (C); Duke Preston (C); Robert Royal (TE); J.P. Losman (QB).
Player to Watch: Terrell Owens, WR.
With how much attention he has drawn to himself since signing with Buffalo, is there anyone else that fits this section better than T.O.? Even though a toe injury has sidelined him for the entire preseason, Owens will be healthy and ready to play in the Bills’ season opener. While many expect him to tear the locker room apart as he did, well, everywhere else’s he’s been, don’t forget that Owens is usually a model citizen in his first year with a team. Expect T.O. to be more flamboyant in Buffalo than destructive…at least until he’s ready to tear quarterback Trent Edwards’ face off for not getting him the ball enough.
Team Strength: The Bills actually have a couple of strong positional groups this year, including wide receiver and defensive tackle. (The Bills always have the best special teams in the league as well, but who wants to talk about special teams?) But the secondary is the best unit on this team. Thanks to a pair of playmaking cornerbacks in Terence McGee and Leodis McKelvin, as well as solid free safety Donte Whitner, Buffalo is going to be hard to pass on this season. Throw in a savvy veteran like Bryan Scott (although Jairus Byrd or Ko Simpson could push him out as starter) at strong safety and the Bills are solid at all four defensive back positions. The nickel back position should be strong as well with the addition of free agent Drayton Florence and developing second-year player Reggie Corner.
Potential Weakness: The offensive line could turn out to be either a strength or weakness depending on the development of rookie starters Eric Wood and Andy Levitre. Wood and Levitre will be the Bills’ starting guards this season and given their lack of experience, they’ll probably suffer plenty of bumps in the road throughout the year. The Bills traded their best offensive lineman in Jason Peters to Philadelphia this offseason and plan on replacing him with 366-pound Langston Walker, who could get abused by edge-rushers. In fact, former seventh round pick Demetrius Bell was pushing Walker for the starting job this preseason before Bell suffered a back injury. That doesn’t speak to how much confidence the coaching staff has in Walker. At right tackle is Brad Butler and at center is former Panther Geoff Hangartner. Both are fringe starters at best.
Outlook: If the young, inexperienced offensive line can step up, then the Bills have more than enough offensive weapons in T.O., Lee Evans, Roscoe Parish and Marshawn Lynch (who is suspended for the first three games of the season) to be successful. But that’s asking a lot considering that Walker and Butler form the least athletic tackle combination in the league. The Bills need more out of Edwards, too. He has flashed potential at times, but if things start to go south, he often becomes afraid to throw the ball vertically downfield, relying on the check down instead. That’s not going to fly with T.O. now on board, so Edwards better pick up his game. Defensively, the Bills have a nice crop of young in Whitner, McKelvin, McGee, Aaron Schobel, Marcus Stroud, Paul Posluszny and rookie Aaron Maybin. But the entire unit needs to stay healthy (which was a problem last year) and the front four needs to provide a consistent pass rush.
If the offensive line and Edwards struggle, the rest of the team will feel the effects. The defense is good enough to keep the Bills in games, but not if they don’t stay healthy and if the offense is ineffective. This team certainly has some potential, but they have a lot of “ifs” heading into the season and given the division they play in, a 7-9 or 8-8 season will probably be the best Bill fans can hope for this year.
2009 Prediction: Fourth, AFC East.
